Dog fight in the House

Like a young pup yapping at the heels of an older dog, freshman state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, got the attention of the second-longest-serving member of the House this morning, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. Given Thompson’s reaction — not to mention the support “Miss T” got from her colleagues — you would have thought Simpson wished he hadn’t, although he told me later, he had no regrets.

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Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston

“She’s a fine lady,” said the Longview rookie, who at 50 is older than he looks. “We had a conversation afterward, and everything’s fine.”

At issue was Thompson’s so-called “puppy mill” bill, legislation that seeks to regulate retail and Internet pet sellers who acquire their animals from breeding facilities and then sell directly to the public through newspaper and Internet ads.

The bill was about to sail through on the House’s local and consent calendar, which Thompson chairs and which is reserved for legislation without opposition. (Can anybody oppose puppies?) When Simpson popped up and objected, he forced to the bill into the Calendars Committee where it will be slated for debate on the House floor, perhaps next week.

“I disagree with the process,” Simpson told me.” It should be voted up or down on its merits.”

Simpson’s tactic prompted Thompson to deliver a rare “personal privilege” speech to her House colleagues, only the third in her 38-year career, she said. In contrast to the usual raucous atmosphere that prevails on the House floor, her colleagues sat quietly at their desks and listening respectfully.

“I don’t mind being attacked personally. I don’t mind my legislation that I carry being attacked,” she said, standing at the front mike. “But the integrity of my members of the Local and Consent calendar has been impugned. . . .

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Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview

“Those of us who have been here, and the new members as well, have agreed to follow those rules. I’ve inherited a couple of new members on this committee, Connie Scott and Rep. Larson. They picked up their rule book, they come to the committee and they work like Trojans, and they work to be sure that we do the right thing. We don’t set the bills on this committee according to Democrats and Republicans. .. .

“Anybody has a right to object to a bill on this calendar, and, you know, if this bill doesn’t make it today, you know I’ll be back. Because those of you know that when I passed alimony it took me 16 years, but I got it done. But the key thing is the integrity of this House and how this body is viewed by our constituents and by the people of this state. . . .

“When I walked in this morning, people began to say, ‘Are you afraid? Are you scared?’ And just let me take it to this, that the Lord is my light and he’s my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, and whom shall I be afraid? And as long as man walks on two feet on this earth, I’ll never have a fear of him.”

Thompson spoke for five minutes. When she finished, her colleagues rose in a standing ovation.

For Simpson, there was no slinking away to the dog house. He had at least temporarily derailed a bill that he considered an expensive and intrusive violation of the 4th Amendment.

The East Texas lumberman and former mayor of Avinger, a tea party favorite, is developing a reputation for his chutzpah and his obstructionist inclinations. Earlier in the session he labeled Gov. Rick Perry’s Texas Enterprise Fund “corporate welfare.” He also forced his colleagues to choose between abolishing the Texas Arts Commission and funding programs for the elderly and disabled, and he opposed a bill that would ban texting while driving. Unwarranted government intrusion, he said.